A/N: Okay, I rewrote part of this and reloaded it -- hopefully it's not as "expository" as it was before. I apologize about that. I banged out this chapter pretty quickly last time. So I changed some of it -- hopefully you all like it better now. shrugs Anyway, I hope to be getting the next chapter out here shortly, but that's only IF my computer behaves itself long enough. It's f'ed up right now. Dumb thing. Okay, well, until next chappie! Rhianna

Chapter Six
When You Come Back To Me Again

Part One
The days that followed were harrowing for everyone in Bevelle. Everyone waited by their respective phones, hoping to hear word from Rikku – or from someone who had seen her.

Yuna grew more and more subdued, feeling like it was entirely her fault. "I shouldn't have let her go," she told Auron and Tidus over and over again once they had arrived back at her apartment. "I knew something was wrong – I could feel it in my heart. I shouldn't have let her go."

Tidus didn't know what to do or say for her, so he just held her in his arms, trying his best to be comforting, though he didn't know the first thing about it. "Don't worry, Yuna," he said, trying to stay positive. "We'll find her. She's fine. She's Rikku! She can take care of herself."

Yuna just sniffled and looked up at him, the misery in her eyes tearing at his heart.

Auron couldn't sit still. He paced around Yuna's apartment constantly, didn't even stop long enough to sleep. He knew that he wouldn't rest until Rikku was back, safe and sound, and he had seen her with his own eyes, and held her in his own arms.

Days passed. There was no word from Rikku, no ransom note, no phone calls. "It doesn't make sense," Lulu said to Wakka on Day Six. They were all at Yuna's apartment, sitting around her kitchen, just waiting.

"What doesn't make sense, Lu?" Wakka asked.

"If Seymour had kidnapped Rikku, he would have let us know by now. He never was one for flying under the radar. He likes to make himself known," Lulu explained.

"So you think someone else is behind this?" Wakka asked. "Someone unrelated to Seymour?"

"I don't know about the 'unrelated' part," Auron interjected, "but I think Lulu has a good point."

"But why would anyone take Rikku? What could they possibly want with her?" Yuna asked, looking around the room nervously.

"Maybe it's not personal at all," Tidus conceded. "Maybe she just happened to be easily accessible at the time." He shrugged.

Auron looked thoughtful. "That's true. We just need to find out who would be desperate enough to resort to kidnapping."

"Maybe someone had a debt or something?" Wakka wondered aloud.

"Gods, that could be anybody," Lulu groaned. "I mean, I have debts ..." She trailed off when she noticed everyone staring at her. "Well I didn't take her!" she cried in exasperation. "I'm just saying ... it could take a lot of detective work to figure something like this out. And besides – if someone truly is desperate for money, and that's why he or she took Rikku, they'll be sending some sort of ransom note soon. Typically, people who kidnap for the money aren't out to harm the person they've taken."

Auron nodded. "She's right," he said to the others. "We can't do anything for sure anyway, until we know it is an actual kidnapping, and that she didn't just run off."

Yuna's eyes flooded with tears at the thought. "She wouldn't do that. Rikku wouldn't do that. Someone has her," she whispered with every ounce of conviction that she could muster. She looked up, straight at Auron. "Someone has her, Auron," she said in a firm, steady voice.

Auron nodded. "I know."

Part Two
Seymour decided it was time to pay a visit to an "old friend." The poor fool had come to him nearly a year ago, hoping that Spira's most "benevolent benefactor" could help him finance a project.

Seymour sneered at the thought. He had always been known as the "benevolent benefactor" since he was so good about donating money to charities and other good causes. It was a nice tax right off, plus, it made him look wonderful.

The man – if you could call him a man – who had come to Seymour in need of a loan had been a sniveling, whiny excuse for a human. He was ex-military, Seymour had learned, discharged because of asthma. And the only thing he wanted in the world was to open a chocobo ranch.

Seymour thought the idea was ridiculous. But he knew that the ranch would never take off, and that the man would end up being in his debt. People who were in debt to you could prove to be very valuable.

"Tromell!" Seymour summoned his crony one morning. "Tromell, we're going to pay a visit to Clasko today."

"Clasko, Sir?" Tromell asked, obviously not remembering the name.

"Yes, Tromell. You remember Clasko? He borrowed money from me last year for a chocobo ranch. The time has come for him to repay me," Seymour explained.

"Ah, very good, Sir," Tromell said. "But – what if he doesn't have the money?"

Seymour smiled evilly. "Oh, Tromell. You know what we do to people who can't pay us back." He and Tromell shared a good laugh as they thought about the fun their day was going to bring.

But even Seymour couldn't have planned on what – or who – he was to find when they paid Clasko a visit that day.

Part Three
Clasko sat in the barn where he could keep an eye on his hostage while he wrote her ransom note. He knew that Seymour Guado would be coming to collect the money that he was owed any day now, and he was just hoping that he could get enough from Rikku's ransom to pay him before that time came.

Rikku was still tied to the same chair, still blindfolded. Her bones and muscles were screaming with pain. It had been nearly a week and a half since she had been brought here – wherever here was. She didn't fear her captor any more; she knew he wasn't going to kill her.

But she might die anyway, from extreme fatigue and hunger. The only thing she had been allowed to eat or drink was water – which tasted like it came from a trough – and stale bread.

Plus, she knew now that the livestock was birds. Horrible, noisy birds that set her already fraying nerves on edge with every squawk they uttered. She asked her captor what kind of birds he raised one day, just because the silence was deafening and about to drive her mad.

"They're chocobos!" he had said with a reverence that Rikku found a little creepy.

"You mean, those big yellow birds?" she had asked, a little uncertain now. She couldn't see anything, and she knew she'd have a heart attack if one of those creatures were to sneak up behind her.

"The most beautiful creatures in the world," he had sighed.

"Oh – kay," Rikku had said slowly, and then dropped the subject. Yeah, he's crazy all right, she thought to herself. Bird crazy.

Rikku wondered if anyone in Bevelle was looking for her. I know Yunie will be – but what about the others? Would Auron want to find me? With every day that passed, Rikku felt her spirits sinking lower and lower.

By the time Day Ten rolled around, Rikku was on the verge of bursting into tears when Clasko came rushing into the barn. "Oh no!" he cried.

"What?" Rikku asked, feeling panic rising in her throat. "What's going on?"

"Oh, he's come for his debt! But I don't have it yet! That's what you were for!"

"You kidnapped me because you're in debt?" Rikku asked incredulously. "Why didn't you just mug me?"

Clasko paused and contemplated this for a minute. "Oh, what does it matter now? I don't have the money – this is a disaster!"

"Who is it that you owe?" Rikku asked.

As if on cue, she heard the barn doors bang open behind her. She jumped instinctively. "Well, well, well, Clasko." Rikku cringed. The voice was gentle and smooth, but she could detect the pure evil lurking behind it. "What is this?"

"Uh, well, you see, Mr. Guado, uh, I knew you'd be coming for your debt, but I didn't have the money, so I was going to, uh, use this girl for ransom," Clasko stammered.

"Silence," Seymour said. He put his hands to his temples. Clasko really gave him a headache. "So you're saying that you don't have the money?"

Clasko hung his head. "No, Sir," he said in a nearly inaudible voice.

"Just this girl," Seymour said, gesturing to Rikku. "And she's certainly no good to me ..." He turned to Clasko and smiled cruelly. "Well, Clasko, you know that this means we must work out your debt in some other manner. First, the birds must be executed ..."

"NO!" Clasko cried out. "Not the chocobos! They haven't done anything!"

"Sir!" Tromell's voice echoed across the barn.

Seymour exhaled loudly. "What now, Tromell? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Sir, I believe you'll find this most interesting. It is from the girl's jacket," Tromell said.

Rikku's heart sped up. The note! Cred! Vilg! No one was supposed to know about Auron and I! Especially not Seymour Guado!

Seymour rolled his eyes and walked over to Tromell. He snapped the paper from his lackey's hands. As he read it, a smirk began to play across his features. "Bingo," he whispered. "Tromell, you're a genius!"

He crossed to where Rikku sat and knelt before her. Gently, he removed her blindfold. Rikku blinked rapidly when the light hit her eyes for the first time in over a week. When her eyes focused, the creepiest-looking creature she had ever seen was sitting at eye-level with her.

Seymour Guado was veiny and had wild blue hair that stuck out in all directions. His eyes were an icy gray-blue, and they seemed to have hypnotic powers. "Are you Rikku?" he asked in a soft and gentle voice.

Rikku could only nod, somehow he had taken control of her mind.

"Very good. And this letter, this is from someone important to you, is it not?"

Again, she nodded.

"Auron LaGuard?" Seymour asked in that same monotone, trance-like tone.

"Auron?" Rikku whispered dreamily.

Seymour looked at Tromell and smiled. "She's the one," he said. He turned to Clasko, who was still cowering. "Dear Clasko," Seymour said in a pseudo-friendly voice. "What say you we make a little deal?"

"A – A deal?" Clasko stuttered.

"Indeed. I will absolve your debt completely, if you will allow me to take this girl off your hands. Of course, in order for this deal to be fair, you mustn't tell anyone that you've seen her at all," Seymour suggested.

Clasko looked at Rikku, whom he had actually grown fond of, and back at Seymour. He knew what Seymour was capable of, and he couldn't bear the thought of his precious chocobos being harmed. He nodded, and held out his hand for Seymour to shake.

"I knew you'd see it my way, dear Clasko," Seymour said coolly. "Tromell, get the girl."

Clasko seemed so happy with his victory. Only when he saw the terror in Rikku's eyes did he begin to feel the smallest twinges of regret. She'll be okay, he told himself. Surely someone will be looking for her.

As Seymour followed Tromell out to their waiting limousine, he quickly dumped the packet of cyanide that he carried in his pocket into the chocobos' water supply. He never really was one for keeping his word.

The two Guado put Rikku in the backseat of the limousine and shut the door while they stood outside the car to discuss a few matters. "Tromell, do you still have that serum that we were saving for Yuna Summers?" Seymour asked in a low voice.

"You mean, the Confuse Serum?" Tromell asked.

"Yes, that one," Seymour replied, thinking of one of his newest laboratory creations. It was a serum that caused anyone who came in contact with it to forget details of their past. All details.

"Well, of course. You are the one who doesn't want it to ever be out of your sight," Tromell told his boss. "Which is why it's in the car." Tromell spoke as if he thought Seymour was an idiot. Seymour was fanatical about this serum.

It was true. Something as powerful as this Confuse Serum – when in the wrong hands – could be devastating to everything he had worked for.

"Perfect," Seymour said cruelly. "We're going to use it on Rikku, instead."

Tromell looked confused. "Rikku? But, sir ..."

"Rikku is LaGuard's weakness. He wrote that note to her," Seymour explained.

"You mean, 'A' is Auron LaGuard?" Tromell asked.

"Precisely. I have a plan for her – and for him." Seymour unfolded the details of his dastardly scheme to Tromell, who clapped his hands with glee when Seymour was finished.

"Prepare for a celebration, Tromell. And get Alorra on the phone. Tell her that we have need of a wedding gown," Seymour said. With that, he and Tromell got into the car and found, much to their delight, that Rikku was sleeping.

Tromell quickly administered the Confuse Serum to the slumbering girl. "She'll sleep for several hours while this goes through her system. When she wakes, she won't remember anything of her past."

Seymour smiled at the blonde girl sleeping in the seat across from him. Soon, he would have Auron LaGuard exactly where he wanted him.